U.S. swimmer Kaitlin Sandeno, who finished behind Klochkova by 0.12 of a second, earned a silver medal, in an American record time of 4:34.95.

Georgina Bardach, on the other hand, won Argentina's first Olympic bronze medal in swimming, breaking a South American record of 4:37.51.

[2] South Korea's Nam Yoo-sun and Greece's Vasiliki Angelopoulou became the first female swimmers for their respective nation to reach an Olympic final, finishing outside the medals in seventh and eighth place, respectively.

Romania's Beatrice Câșlaru, who won a bronze medal in Sydney, finished only in fourteenth place on the morning's preliminary heats.

[3] Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.